GUNS IN THE NEWS--December 12, 2003

[MrBenchley]

As CO Liberal sez:
Please try to adhere to the following voluntary guidelines, in order that we can have an orderly discussion of gun-related news topics:
1 - Feel free to add any CURRENT stories to this thread by replying to this message. In order to be considered current, stories should have been originally posted on the Internet within the previous 24 hours, or provide follow-up to a story that was previously posted on the J/PS board. On Mondays (since many people do not log in to DU over the weekend), stories can be posted from Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.
2 - Both pro-gun and anti-gun stories, editorials, and press releases are welcome in this thread, as long as they're current. Please do not post links to items from a few years back that support your position.
3 - Bear in mind that any links to extremely right-wing sites (such as Newsmax, CNS, or the Washington Times) or intentionally pro-gun or pro-control sites (such as the NRA or the Brady Campaign) are not considered reliable sources by many DU-ers. If at all possible, try to find a link for your story from a more mainstream source, such as a general-circulation newspaper or magazine site. If you choose to use a slanted site, be prepared for any negative feedback you may receive.
4 - Do not change story titles. In other words, if the Oskosh Gazette's web site runs a story titled "Two Killed in Holdup", the title of your message should read "Two Killed in Holdup". Don't change it to "Gun Owner Kills Two People", or anything else that changes the meaning of the story.
5 - If it's not clear from the title where the story occurred, add the city, state, or country in parentheses after the title.
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8 - If you object to these guidelines, do everyone else a favor and go to another thread.

[MrBenchley]

1. Restraining Order Involved In Deadly Rocklin Shooting (CA)

"The identities of the three people shot and killed in Rocklin Wednesday in an apparent murder-suicide have been released.
Daphne Pettit, her son, Steffen Ohland, and Steffen's father, Ronald Ohland, were found dead in their home Wednesday.
Placer County court documents show that Pettit had received a series of threatening e-mails and had requested a restraining order against Ronald Ohland. The court granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday -- apparently unaware of the deaths. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20031211/lo_kcra/1916140

[DarkPhenyx]

2. Speaking of people who seem to have a fetish.

Morning Bench! You still on your one topic tirade this morning?

[MrBenchley]

3. Sharpsburg Man Accused In Friend's Shooting Death (PA)

Guns don't kill people...until one of these "enthusiasts" gets nabbed...

"A Sharpsburg man is charged with murder for what he says was the accidental death of a friend Wednesday night.
Garrett Dillon, 19, told police that he was at his Ninth Street home with Sean Eckert, 19, and they were looking at a gun owned by Dillon's father.
Dillon said he accidentally pulled the trigger and fired a bullet into Eckert's chest, according to police. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20031211/lo_wtae/1916116

[MrBenchley]

4. Feds Bust Ohio-N.J. Gun Trafficking Rin

Bet THIS chapped NRA life member AshKKKroft's ass...the corrupt gun industry in action....

"WASHINGTON - A gun trafficking ring in which Ohio college students acted as phony buyers for weapons intended for a New Jersey street gang has been broken up as part of a national crackdown on gun crime, federal prosecutors say.
Authorities said charges were brought against alleged New Jersey gang members, an Ohio gun dealer and at least eight other people in Ohio.
U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said the prosecution marked the first in which charges have been brought in one state against a licensed gun dealer in another state for operating an alleged gun trafficking conspiracy.
The indictment says the Ohio store owner, James Dillard, made two large sales of 16 guns and 15 guns, respectively, on April 22, 2002, to two different "straw buyers." He had made a sale of 25 guns to one of the same purchasers five days earlier, the indictment charges. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031211/ap_on_re_us/gun_trafficking_1

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031211/ap_on_re_us/gun_trafficking_1

[RoeBear]

5. You'll probably blast me...

...for being an Ashkroft ass kisser but isn't he the one that contols U.S. attorneys?

Regardless this is the kind of headline I like to see. It lets people know that if they try to be gun runners then they go to jail.

[MrBenchley]

6. Yeah, and in the NJ office

and probably in the Ohio office, the US attorneys are career prosecutors...

Christie is a Republican bagman and AshKKKrroft is an NRA life member...

[slackmaster]

7. Someone should watch the news conference

i.e. "Prosecutors from Ohio and New Jersey were to join Ashcroft at a news conference about the case...."

and see if the AG looks like he has a chapped ass.

[Emoto]

8. This is what we all want isn't it?

Aggressive prosecution of gun criminal, I mean. We want the laws enforced, right? Didn't Ashcroft say that he would be aggressively enforcing the gun laws?

I'm just trying to point out that I cannot see a way for anyone to see a negative in this.

[iverglas]

17. a negative?

"This is what we all want isn't it?
Aggressive prosecution of gun criminal, I mean"

I would rather hope that what "we" would actually prefer is for these things not to happen.

This particular gun-running scheme was busted. How many have not been? How many guns did this dealer sell to these people, or other people, that ended up in the same or similar hands? How many other dealers are engaging in similar schemes?

How many individuals engage in these kinds of transactions on a small enough scale that they never hit the radar?

How exactly does aggressive prosecution of these particular criminals do anything about the fact that, what was it, about 45 guns were funnelled into gang hands? How many were recovered? Let alone about any others funnelled to similar destinations by similar means?

People break laws. Sometimes, they have big incentives -- like the largish profits to be made in gun-running at no great personal risk (other than the risk of prosecution) -- for breaking laws.

The most effective way of preventing the harm that occurs when people break laws like these is to make it difficult for them to break laws, not simply to threaten to punish them if they do.

No-parking signs & parking tickets -vs.- concrete barriers, once again.

A law against gun-running is a no-parking sign, a prosecution is a traffic ticket. There are lots of people willing to play the odds.

A system that requires that individuals have permits to acquire firearms, and that the firearms in their possession be registered, and requiring that any transfer of the firearm, including transfers to family members or anyone else, be made only to persons with the appropriate permits and be registered, and that limits the type and perhaps the number of firearms that may be acquired, is of course not nearly as good as a concrete barrier; it just isn't quite possible to surround firearms with concrete barriers that they can't get past without someone showing a permit and registering them. But it's a little better than a no-parking sign.

.

[MrBenchley]

9. Family Of 4 Shot By Intruder; 2 Killed (TX)

"A family of four was shot, resulting in the deaths of a mother and a son, as they walked into their Sugar Land house Wednesday night while an intruder was burglarizing it.
Officials told News2Houston a person broke into the family's home on the 2200 block of Heron Way in the Sugar Lakes subdivision around 8 p.m. Wednesday while family members were not there.
Investigators said the Whitaker family was out for dinner when the burglar broke into the house. When they arrived home and walked through the front door, the intruder -- wearing a mask -- fired shots at all four family members, killing 19-year-old Kevin Whitaker at the scene.
The mother, Patricia Whitaker, 51, was transported by LifeFlight to Memorial Hermann Hospital; however, she died before she arrived. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20031211/lo_kprc/1915316

[demsrule4life]

16. Since gun laws are not ment to keep guns out of the hands

criminals (according to mz academia) this is the perfect post on why good people should be armed.

[MrBenchley]

10. Drugs, guns found in burning home (IN)

"Marion County sheriff's detectives were searching for the owner of a Southwestside home Thursday after it caught on fire and firefighters stumbled into a tub containing bags of marijuana and a cache of weapons, officials said.
The fire started in a neighbor's home, which was destroyed.
Lt. Phil Burton said initial reports indicated the officers found bags of marijuana, a number of guns and some bulletproof vests."

http://www.indystar.com/articles/4/101495-2924-009.html

[MrBenchley]

11. Coatesville drug dealer gets long prison term (PA)

"Two Coatesville police officers on routine bike patrol last year near Gordon Middle School were involved in an altercation with gun-toting drug dealers who were attempting to protect their turf.
Yesterday, one of the admitted participants, Lawrence Hurd, 21, of Coatesville, was sentenced in federal court in Philadelphia to 111/2 years in prison followed by five years' probation by U.S. District Judge Legrome D. Davis."

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/7464855.htm

[MrBenchley]

12. Bullet Strikes Woman While Driving (TX)

"Police told News2Houston the bullet smashed the woman's rear window, hitting her in the back, around 5:10 p.m.
Officials are not sure where the gunfire came from, but think she might have been shot at near Interstate 45.
Police found the woman in her car, dazed, at the intersection of Polk and Gustav.
"Because of her condition at the time, she wasn't able to tell us (what happened). All she said was 45 and Scott. HPD started working on her and she was a little hysterical," Houston Police Department Sgt. Al Giraldo said. "We are not clear at this point if she was on the freeway or on the road." "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=320&ncid=320&e=9&u=/ibsys/20031211/lo_kprc/1915555

[MrBenchley]

13. Downtown Bar Shooting Leaves 2 Wounded (TX)

"Police said someone opened fire from outside Emilio's Tejano Bar in the 1400 block of East Commerce at 3:30 a.m.
Two men who were inside the bar were wounded. One man suffered a wound to the back and was transported to Brooke Army Medical Center in critical condition. The other man was shot in the leg. His condition was unknown. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=391&ncid=391&e=2&u=/ibsys/20031212/lo_ksat/1917288

[MrBenchley]

14. Practice Of Canned Hunting Under Fire (OH)

"City sprawl led him to a 100-acre pheasant preserve west of Dayton, where birds are raised, then released for a fee so customers and their dogs can flush them out and take their best shots.
It's this type of hunting that's under fire, Vara reported.
A study performed by the Fund for Animals -- a national animal protection agency -- ranks Ohio as one of the top 10 states containing the cruelest canned-hunting facilities.
The Humane Society claims the practice is rigged and cruel. The organization issued a release that said, in part, "If the vice president and his friends wanted to sharpen their shooting skill, they should have shot skeet or clay, not resorted to the slaughter of creatures planted right in front of them as animated targets."
According to the Humane Society, the reason it's coming forward now is because it believes it's time people know these practices are going on, and that legislation should be enacted against them, Vara reported. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=410&ncid=410&e=2&u=/ibsys/20031212/lo_wlwt/1916682

It would be truly ironic (and delightful) if Bwana Dick's great white hunter act led to the banning of canned hunts....

[MrBenchley]

15. IPD investigates slaying outside bar

"Indianapolis police are investigating a fatal shooting outside a popular Near-Westside show club.
Witnesses were being interviewed this morning in the death of 43-year-old Brian Gunn, of Indianapolis, who was shot multiple times after an argument, said IPD spokesman Sgt. Steve Staletovich.
No motive was immediately released in the city's 73rd killing this year. The incident occurred at about 3:07 a.m., and Gunn was pronounced dead about a half-hour later at Wishard Memorial Hospital."

http://www.indystar.com/articles/0/101583-9790-093.html